We hope this special issue of Massage & Bodywork magazine finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. This time is daunting in several respects. None of us have any idea how long closures, isolations, and suspensions will last, or how long it will take COVID-19 to run its course in the United States, let alone the world.
It’s always been ABMP’s mission to support practitioners wherever, however, and whenever they want to manifest their skills, but this time in our country is unique, and current social distancing guidelines prevent massage therapists from doing what they love most: working with clients. As a result, therapists must pursue other avenues within their work. Now is the time to practice physical and mental self-care, to remain positive and informed, to reflect on the good work you’ve done, to learn something new, and to prepare yourself for the time when you are able to practice again.
Hold close your success stories. Give yourself space and time to work on your practice wish list. Polish your treatment space. During your self-distancing, take advantage of the free online continuing education that’s part of your ABMP membership. Revamp your dream list for marketing your practice. Recall what drew you to the profession and what you love about it. When this coronavirus veil lifts, your clients will need your supportive, therapeutic massage sessions more than ever.
ABMP is continuing to support you by lobbying for practitioner rights and representation during this time, and by putting together resources that are informational, timely, and responsive to the current situation. This special issue of our flagship publication is a combination of the good work done thus far and new material from our cadre of profession experts. We feel that speaking to you directly, quickly, and informatively supersedes anything else we are doing. Because of that, we circumvented the normal bimonthly print magazine cycle of Massage & Bodywork magazine to bring you this digital issue ahead of schedule, as quickly as possible.
ABMP will continue to update our members about the COVID-19 outbreak, and, as always, we will continue to offer excellent service to our members, striving to live up to our motto: expectmore.

Les Sweeney
President
Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals